Police question 13-year-old boy over murder of teenager

A 13-year-old boy was still being questioned tonight over the murder of a talented young footballer who was left to die on the street.

A postmortem examination carried out at Poplar mortuary on the body of 17-year-old Jahmal Mason-Blair, from Hackney, east London, found he had died from a stab wound to the neck.

The teenager's body was found by police on a routine patrol in Amhurst Road early on Saturday and he was pronounced dead soon afterwards.

Scotland Yard said a 13-year-old boy had been arrested in east London at 8.30pm on Saturday night. A spokesman said he was being held in custody.

Friends who paid tribute to Jahmal said he had dreamed of becoming a professional footballer and had attended the Tottenham Hotspur development centre for young players.

Speaking at the scene, his half-brother Shaun Mason, 30, said Jahmal's father, Wesley Blair, collapsed when he heard of his son's death and was taken to hospital.

Mason said their mother, Tetela Rafeal, lived in Florida and was making plans to fly back to Britain.

"He [Jahmal] was meant to be coming to stay with his cousin last night but he never made it," said Mason, who was woken by his sister and was at the scene by about 3am. "I've asked to go and identify him because I want to be able to do that for him," he added.

Family friend Connie Drew described Jahmal as "a great kid". She said: "He liked football and you never saw him without a football … he had a goal in his life … and he wanted to make something of himself. He was a lovely young boy and never even got into any arguments."

Jahmal's friend Eddie Munnelly said they had met at the Tottenham Hotspur development centre.

"He was a good player but always struggled with his size and only really shot up recently. He had another trial recently at Reading as well."

Jahmal showed off his ball skills in a competition against another teenager on a video posted on the YouTube website last year. A message from him proudly said: "I won."

More than 1,800 people joined a Facebook group set up in his memory.

Djzigzag Antonn Christophe summed up many of the posts when he wrote: "Man wasnt on this fighting thing! he was on girls and football and dat was his life."

Anyone with information on the stabbing should call the incident room on 0208 8345 1570 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.